“Remote Abusive Supervision – It’s A Reality!” Evidence from India

Abstract

The world has moved into mandated work-from-home options since the onset of the Covid19 pandemic. Brought into being due to external compulsions, many organizations have woken up to the ‘new normal’ way of functioning, a hybrid between offline and online workspaces. Abusive supervisory behaviour adversely affects a subordinate's work behaviour and outcomes (Tepper, 2000), even remotely (Liu, 2020; Valle et al., 2021). In this study, we explored the possibility of negative leadership behaviour (abusive supervision) occurring remotely and how it impacts the employee’s life satisfaction experiences in the long run. Drawing support from the Conservation of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989, 2002), we specifically studied the impact of remote abusive supervision (RAS) on life satisfaction (LS) through the mediating roles of obsessive work passion (OWP), work-to-life conflict (WLC), and the moderating role of ICT usage during non-working hours (ICT-use). To empirically validate the hypothesized model, we collected data from 236 Indian working adults (married, staying in a nuclear family, and having dependant child/ children at home). Using SPSS AMOS (v.26), we conducted path analysis with SEM that supported the hypothesized model. Results supported our hypothesized model. Remote abusive supervision is negatively related to life satisfaction, and the relationship is positively mediated by obsessive work passion and work-to-life conflict. ICT-use moderates between OWP and WLC and also WLC and LS. Practical and theoretical implications are also mentioned herein.